Devin Haney will be watching closely when Ryan Garcia faces WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios for his belt on February 21, 2026. This is a final step for the Garcia-Haney rematch to happen.
Garcia still has the left hook which should be enough for him to defeat Barrios. It’s not a gimme for Ryan though, especially with how he looked last May. If he doesn’t land his left hook, ‘El Azteca’ Barrios has the toughness to beat him like he did in his win over Yordenis Ugas in 2023.
Barrios has the opportunity to spoil the lucrative rematch by defeating Ryan and putting himself in position to face Haney in a unification. As bad as Mario looked in his 12-round draw against 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao on July 19, he has a chance to send Garcia to his second straight loss.
Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) needs a win over Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) to take the rematch with Haney. Kingry already failed earlier this year, losing to Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero on May 2nd in what was supposed to be a showcase for him.
Ryan didn’t look good in that fight, looked indecisive and lacked the confidence he showed in his victory over Haney in 2024.
Bill Haney spoke this week about wanting WBO welterweight champion Devin to fight WBA champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero on February 21 at the Ryan vs. Barrios card must venture.
That doesn’t seem possible with the news of Rolly defending against Manny Pacquiao or his WBA title fight against mandatory Shakhram Giyasov. It’s a nice pipe dream that Bill Haney cooked up, but it doesn’t seem realistic.
Ryan sounded out of breath during a workout outside his Southern California mansion this week. Immediately at the beginning of his mitt practice, he breathed very hard, and looked exhausted.
This is not a good sign for him as he was exhausted in his loss to Rolly and his fight against Haney. It’s unclear if he’s been neglecting his cardio, but he can’t afford to tire out against Barrios.
Last updated on 27/11/2025
